I have
struggled with these instructions. It may seem complicated but the
end result is worth it. Set-up is a one-time thing. Soon you'll be
an expert so stick with me kids!

Often I am
asked what I do all day. I'm always busy. Sometimes it's doing icky
stuff like cleaning. Other times I've lost myself in a good book. I
do a lot of reading. At anchor I have actually run out of books to
read. That was a serious event and it happened more than once. It is unlikely to occur
again now because I own a
Kindle. Gutenberg is my secret and today I'll tell you how to get
thousands of eBooks for free.

I ran out of books back in Saul Creek.I told you about Saul Creek in the Silence
Reigns (Saul Creek)
article. It's a beautiful spot.

One reason
Seaweed won't ever be perfect is
Project
Gutenberg. It's a place to go for free books and magazines. That
site feeds my reading addiction. Here's a how-to for beginners:

There is no
registration required. No fees are charged.
Gutenberg does have a PayPal donation button on each
page. It is an amazing site. The originator of eBooks is
Michael Hart and the Gutenberg website is his legacy.

Now you are at a page
showing you the books downloaded most often during the past 30
days. You will find authors such as Jane Austen, Arthur Conan Doyle,
Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens and more. Your
toughest job will be to pick just one.

For this first time, please chose Adventures
of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. You can click on the cover
or title. The cover is a nice big target so that's what I
click. A new page loads. [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76]

Now please copy the title
and author found near the top of the page:

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Look down the list shown below the title. I
select "Kindle (with images)" and RIGHT CLICK. A box will
appear with several choices. Look for one that says "Save link
as" or "Save target as" (it varies, computer to computer)

When that happens you are given an
opportunity to provide a File Name. Here's where you paste the
"Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain" into that box.

Side Note: You can skip the above step
regarding copying the title. In that case simply click
"Kindle (with images)" and a file called
pg76-images.mobi will save to your computer. When you
send it to your Kindle the title will magically appear.

I go through the extra step so that I
have a title I recognize. If a friend wants to read the
same book it is easy to find.

Aboard Seaweed I have one flash drive
with all my Kindle books...

Voila, the book is saved to your computer. You now have a file called
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.mobi
and that's your eBook. If you just clicked your file is called
pg76-images.mobi

The best part is you can get as many
eBooks as you want. Try to restrain yourself though I never do! I
will say once Gutenberg had a page appear that asked me if I was a
human. I had probably found fifty books that day so... well, I read
a lot. Gutenberg is a great resource for those of us on a budget.

When days are long and rainy there's something
special about reading in my bunk.
Life does not get much better. Out here you will find a lot of avid
readers.

Gutenberg
in Brief

Find book you want

Click on cover or title of said book
(a new page opens)

Copy title and author of book

Right click "Kindle (with images)" (a
pop-up box appears)

Paste title and author into box on
"File Name" line

Click Save

The final step is to find
the file you saved. Then simply email it to the Kindle.

Every Kindle has an email address.

There are two ways to find your Kindle's email
address. On your Kindle click the Settings icon. If you have an old Kindle that's the
three vertical dots in the upper right corner of your screen. Otherwise look for
the thing that looks like a gear.

Newer ones like the Kindle Fire
have your Kindle address listed in Settings under "My Account"

The second way is to go directly
to Amazon. I'll detail that next. It's easier. I like understanding
how stuff works so provided you this option first.

Next go to Amazon via this link:
You're not going to buy anything, unless you want to that is.

Select "Your Account" found near
the top on the right side of your screen. Scroll down to "Manage
Your Content and Devices". Click that. The third tab is "Settings".
Click Settings.

About half way down you'll find
your Kindle email address. The section is called "Send-to-Kindle
E-Mail Settings". If you have more than one Kindle, all will be
listed in that section.

Amazon throws up one final barrier
to folks who want to acquire books not found on the Amazon website.
You must add your email address in order to send documents (or
books, photos, etc.) to your Kindle.

Keep scrolling. "Approved Personal
Document E-mail List" is what you want. That is where you will add
your email address.

Now, finally, you are done! You know
how to
get books for free and install them on your Kindle.

Anything you find on Gutenberg,
save, send and then read on your Kindle.

I hereby apologize for any reading
addiction this may exacerbate in you. At least the books are free.
As for me, while writing this piece up I found another gem. See the
next article called
Sea Fever on Gutenberg for details.

Thanks for reading!

Are you a Kindle fan like me? I never leave Seaweed
without mine.
And, do you have more than one Kindle?

The Archive holds a running list with
synopsis of published articles, and links to same.

A favorite aphorism: She was at home among
books, not humans. If her books could have come alive and been present
at that gathering, how gladly would she have walked in and conversed
with their characters, one by one, thrilled by the thought of meeting
those she knew so well. Grace Livingston Hill in Crimson Roses.

Contributions to my Cruising Kitty
via
are always appreciated.

Every gift helps.

The Cruising Kitty is what boaters refer to as spending money. There's
never enough aboard Seaweed!